by Michelle Fox
Maybe it was some famous fancy pants who wanted to go to the beach. A rock star with a drinking problem and a suspended license would be just the type to use a limo, right? Sounded good to me.
I made my way up to the front door of the RV, ignoring the limo and refusing to make eye contact with the driver. As my hand pulled on the door handle, a voice behind me said, “Miss Palmer?”
A chill went up my spine. This was how Morocco had started. I turned around and faced the limo driver. He looked friendly enough, his silver hair and light blue eyes spoke of age and wisdom. He had a grandfatherly air to him, like he would buy me ice cream and read me a story. The last limo driver had been okay, too. It had been the people that came after who’d been a problem.
I relaxed a fraction of an inch. “Yes?”
“I have a message for you.” He reached into the breast pocket of his black suit jacket and extended an envelope toward me.
I blinked and then blinked again. The déjà vu was so strong it made me dizzy.
“Miss?” He took a step forward and lifted the envelope higher.
I took the envelope and gingerly opened it. Inside the RV, Lilli called for me, “Ruby?”
“Just a sec,” I hollered. I unfolded the letter and then gasped, staggering back to lean against the RV door. My heart bungee jumped from my rib cage down into my stomach and then snapped back in place with an audible, life changing thump.
Ruby,
Will you come meet me?
-Blake
I rubbed my eyes and then read the note again. I tried squinting when the words stayed the same. It didn’t work.
“This isn’t real.” I dropped the note as if it had burned me and pressed my back against the RV door.
“He thought you might say that.” The driver gave me a kind smile and pulled another envelope out of his jacket.
This time the note said:
You’ll be safe. I promise. Just come. I’ve missed you.
-Blake
I dropped that one, too. By then, Lilli had grown curious, and tried to open the door to see what was going on. She pushed against my back and I reluctantly stepped onto the parking lot asphalt.
“What’s going on?” She frowned at the limo driver and then looked at me, curiosity lighting her eyes.
I pointed to the notes which she scooped up and read. “What the hell?”
“Yeah, what the hell?” I crossed my arms.
She looked up from the note and frowned. “Well, what are you going to do?”
I studied the driver who regarded me with his steady blue eyes. “You know where he is?”
He tipped his head slightly in assent. “He moves a lot, but I know where he is for the next few hours.”
That was long enough for what I had in mind. “Do you have a pen?”
He nodded and handed one over. I scrawled a quick message on the back of Blake’s first note.
You know where I am. Come and get me. I don’t accept rides from strangers.
-Ruby
“Take it to him.” I folded the paper and put it back in its envelope. Feeling bold, I went up to the driver and pulled his jacket open. I kind of wanted to know if there were any other notes, but his pocket was empty. Stuffing my note into his jacket, I let the fabric fall back into place and gave the man a little pat on the chest.
The driver tipped his hat and returned to his limo. The sleek vehicle smoothly drove away.
“What did you do that for?” Lilli looked confused.
“So we have time to run,” I said. “We don’t know who it is or what they really want. Blake is dead, Lil. Dead. You saw the explosion same as I did. He’s gone. Whoever is behind that note is playing a sick game.” My stomach sank as I thought of who would do such a thing. “It could be Ferrid. Or Frankie.”
“Oh shit.” Lilli sagged against the door same as I had just a few minutes earlier. “I didn’t even think of that.”
“We should leave.” Blake had said I had good instincts and just then I was trusting them when they said it was time to move.
Chapter Twenty One
We drove for four hours, battling LA traffic, and found another beach to park the RV just north of the city. This beach was quieter, remote enough that seals sometimes came ashore. Over the next few days, I finished a bunch of costume sketches and then focused back on the quetzal while Lilli made phone calls trying to set up an audition venue for the Rare Birds of Burlesque show. We had most of the costume designs done now, and it was time to start making the show happen.
A few days later, the beach acquired a bum. A tall, beefy guy wrapped in layers of clothing with a winter hat pulled down low on his head. He slept on the beach, cheap sunglasses over his eyes and pointedly ignored us. We left food out for him, but, while it always disappeared, we never saw him eat.
One morning, he came to stand before me, his shadow eclipsing the sun. I looked up ready to tell him off but the words died in my throat. I knew that jaw. I’d kissed those lips before, I was sure of it.
“Hey, Ruby.” A smile I would recognize anywhere quirked the guy’s lips.
Overwhelmed with shock, I had to fight to say his name. “Blake?” I reached for him and his hand caught mine, sure, strong, real. “You’re alive?” I squeezed his hand, testing to make sure he was solid, half convinced he was a ghost or a figment of my imagination.
“Yeah, I am.”
“What happened?” The explosion had been big and bad, the house crumbling in a shower of debris. I looked at him in wonder. “How did you not die?”
He released my hand and plopped down next to me in the sand. “I got lucky. There was a retaining wall that shielded me from the worst of it. Just the fancy physics of dumb luck. If things had fallen any other way, I wouldn’t be here.”
Dumbstruck, I just turned my head to stare at him. I still couldn’t believe it.
Blake cleared his throat. “As soon as I could, I came for you.”
“Why?” I shook my head. “I can’t do another Morocco. I’m not cut out for that life.” Even as I said that, my heart winced in my chest. It hurt to deny him.
“That’s not my life anymore.” He took my hand again. “Remember that night in the hotel room when I asked if things were different, would we be different?”
I nodded.
“Things are different now.”
“You don’t work for the government anymore?”
“Well, no, I do.” He held up a hand before I could protest. “But I have a very sedate desk job. No more field work, just intelligence analysis.”
“But you liked field work.” I gave him a suspicious look.
“My face is too familiar now. Too many ops, not enough cover. My field career is over.” He looked up at the sky for a moment and then said, “Ferrid is still out there. Last we heard he’s coming to the US.”
“And you’re going to get him?”
“No. I’m out of the game, remember?” Blake shook his head. “It’s not my op anymore. Homeland Security is all over it. They’ll get him.”
“I hope so.” I didn’t exactly plan to live a quiet life and it would suck to have to always worry about Ferrid and his network. Maybe I should change my name for a while. Could a seamstress have a stage name? I sighed. “So now what?”
“Well, I was thinking I would work my desk job and then visit you in my free time.” His smile was bright. “I’m no longer a danger to your well-being.”
My heart went pitter-pat. His eyes were sweet pools of chocolate, his lips a perfect Cupid’s bow and I knew all about the hard body underneath his clothes, knew exactly what he could do to mine. Oh, he was still dangerous all right. Nowhere near safe.
But since when had that stopped me?
“What do you say, Ruby? You want to see if we have anything between us, outside of international spy work?”
“Yeah, okay,” I said, a bit flat just because I was still in shock. It felt like a dream. A wonderful, delicious happy ending kind of dream. I didn’t
trust it.
He stood and offered me a hand. Pulling me out of my beach chair, he wrapped me in a hug. “I know you’re busy with Lilli and the show.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Oh you know that, do you?”
“Well, you can take the spy out of the field, but you can’t take the spy out of the man.”
“Why the limo? Why the bum act?” He said he could do a relationship, but he acted like he was still on a mission.
“I’m trying to keep a low profile just in case. I broke up a terrorist cell out this way two years ago. Some of the gangs know me.” He took a second to scan the beach, confirming it was empty save for us. “The bum get up was my plan b after you turned down the limo.”
“Is it always going to be like this? Am I going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder?”
“I’m told the longer I’m out of the field, the less I have to worry. People move on. Even criminals with a grudge. Until then, I’m trying to be careful. The last thing I want is for another Frankie to find you.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that would be bad.”
He gave me a squeeze. “Anyway, I was hoping you could take a few days off. I have a suite booked at a resort.”
I arched an eyebrow. This reunion was moving faster than I could take. “A resort?”
“An expensive, very chic resort.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “They have massages, chocolate dipped strawberries and an ocean view.”
“It sounds very nice,” I said trying to keep my voice steady. His deep voice so close to my ear did things to me. Wicked things that I had little defense against.
“Hold it right there, mister,” came Lilli’s voice, tart with anger.
We both turned toward her and I jumped when I saw the gun she had pointed at Blake’s head. “Lil, don’t.”
She held up a hand. “This man is bad news. You know it, I know it. He has to go.” She released the safety. “One way or the other.”
“Lilli,” Blake started, but she cut him off.
“Do you know what you put her through?” She shrieked and pointed at me with the gun. I ducked. I didn’t think she planned on shooting me, but she was pretty emotional. A mistake would be easy to make.
“I do,” Blake said quietly. He urged me upright with his hand and then put an arm around my shoulders. Kissing the top of my head, he said, “I want to make it right. Even if it takes me a lifetime.”
Chapter Twenty Two
The resort Blake drove us to was tucked in a secluded cove by the ocean and surrounded by a wildlife preserve. The lobby featured a pagoda-like building made entirely of glass, which allowed an unobstructed view of the ocean. There were cookies, too. Lavender toffee sugar cookies, which sounded weird, but tasted amazing. I gorged on them while Blake checked us in, settling into a very comfortable arm chair to wait for him as I did so.
I sighed with relief when we stepped into our suite. We had arrived and didn’t have to run anymore. There were no bad guys now, just us. The relief of that knowledge was immense. Lilli had ranted and raved at Blake for quite a while before we left. I’d finally had to step in and tell her I was more than happy to let Blake make Morocco up to me. In truth, her rant had clarified things. The more she railed against Blake, the more I realized I wanted him. My indecision had evaporated. We’d had a crazy start to our relationship and time would tell if we could work under normal relationship conditions, but I wanted the chance to try.
I think she knew it, too. When I went to hug her goodbye, I said, “Thanks, Lil.”
She smiled at me, a Cheshire cat smile full of secrets. “For what? Waving a gun at you and your guy?”
I chuckled. “Yeah.”
There was a gleam in her eye when she asked, “Why?”
“Because it helped me figure out what I really wanted.”
She squeezed me tight in her arms. “That’s what friends are for.”
“What do you think?” Blake’s deep voice brought my attention back to the present moment. He swept a hand at the suite.
“It’s gorgeous.” I kicked off my shoes and went to the windows, walking through the living area of the suite. The posh decor featured cream white furniture and ebony tables with an ornate oriental rug underneath. A door on the far wall led to what I assumed was a bedroom. Pulling back the curtains, I gasped at the view. The ocean unfurled below us like a magic carpet and the white sand of the beach glittered in the sun.
Blake came to stand behind me, his hands wrapped around my waist. “It’s not as gorgeous as you.”
I laughed and he tugged me away from the window, spinning me in his arms until we were face-to-face. We didn’t talk then, preferring to let our lips run wild in other ways. His kiss seized my mouth with a fierce intensity. I gripped his broad shoulders as my knees went weak.
That first kiss unleashed a hungry passion that demanded to be fed, now. My hands went for his shirt, yanking it over his head. He did the same to me and soon we were both topless, skin on skin. Blake’s lean, hardness met my soft curves and our bodies melded together. We’d found our other halves.
“Come on, let’s go to the bedroom,” Blake’s voice came out rough and raspy. He grabbed my hand and pulled me after him.
I barely noticed the opulence of the bedroom, I couldn’t stop looking at Blake. The bed seemed nice enough, an opinion I formed after he tossed me onto it. I ran my hand over the duvet, feeling the goose down inside. It couldn’t compare to Blake’s heat or the velvet of his skin stretched over the sleek strength of his muscles.
Blake kicked off the rest of his clothes and then pounced on me, removing his pants followed by mine, along with my underwear. Once we were both naked, he took a moment to kneel next to me on the bed, his gaze rapt as he took me in.
“Beautiful as always.”
I ran a hand lightly over his stomach. “Handsome as always.”
“Worth all the trouble?” He asked.
That gave me pause as it echoed my conversation with Lilli. Then I hadn’t been so sure, but now I knew. “Yeah.”
“Good.” His hands cupped my breasts and he sucked a nipple into his mouth. The warm velvet of his mouth, and the scratch of his five o’clock shadow contrasted with the flicks of his tongue over my sensitive tip. His hand stroked down my stomach to nestle at my core. A lone finger speared my folds and suddenly I couldn’t think anymore.
My body responded to every touch, every sensation with heightened pleasure. I moaned.
“You need something baby?” He asked with feigned innocence as if his finger wasn’t plucking pleasure from my core, drop by wet drop.
“Yes. You. Inside me, now,” I panted. The need for him to fill me up burned in my belly. When he didn’t move to immediately possess me, I added a soft plea. “Please. Don’t make me wait. Not this time.”
“There’s no more waiting, baby. We’re just taking our time.” He slid off the bed, dropping to his knees between my legs. “Open for me. Show me what I want to see.”
I obeyed without hesitation and he leaned forward. There was a long moment where he didn’t touch me. I raised my hips to him and that broke the spell. Blake thrust his fingers into my tight wet passage, crooking them as he went. I gasped as hot, electric pleasure bolted through me.
He nuzzled my inner thighs, first kissing then nipping the tender skin there. Goose bumps rose all over my skin, twisting my nipples into stiff points. My core convulsed around his fingers and he responded with more pressure, pushing hard and deep inside me.
I began to tremble.
“Hold on, baby. We’re just getting started.” His tongue found my sweet spot then, flicking over the sensitive nub with masterful expertise.
I started to squirm, hips grinding into the bed.
Blake’s hands slid under my ass, cupping each cheek and attempting to hold me in place. I couldn’t stop undulating under him though. My legs closed around his head and my hands reached for his hair, fingers finding anchor in his dark locks.
> His tongue moved faster. Circling. Flicking. Teasing.
I moaned.
His lips closed over my core and sucked hard.
I screamed and bucked against him as an orgasm exploded inside me. The throbbing pleasure beat its way through me, making me shudder. I convulsed, stomach clenching, thighs trembling and then collapsed.
Blake climbed back up on the bed and covered my body with his. We shared a deep kiss, one full of my own salty sweetness. I arched into his lean curves, the heat between us threatening to melt us both.
He kissed his way down my neck to my breasts and lavished my aching nipples with attention. His tongue worked me over, followed by his hands until I could barely breathe, let alone think. All I could do was moan and keen at his touch, letting my body speak for me with its pleading hip thrusts.
Blake finally moved between my legs, which I quickly spread wide for him. With one hard thrust, he made me complete. I howled as I came a second later, shuddering around him, a woman undone. Blake kept moving, claiming me with powerful strokes. Lifting my legs over his head, he let me have as much of him as I could take.
My hands reached for him, digging into his hips and urging him on. His muscles flexed under my palms as he moved. My body tightened and clamped down as the heat of pleasure burned through me again. That was the tipping point for Blake and he shouted as his climax overtook him. His hard shaft danced inside my core and we both held on to each other as if we’d found the life rafts that would save us.
Later, when we’d recovered somewhat, Blake lay next to me, pulling me close with one arm. “All my life I thought magic was just a bunch of tricks and then I met you.” He grabbed my hand. “You’re the real thing, Ruby. The magic in my life.”
I snuggled up against him, relishing the way I could hear his heart beat. Was it too soon to say, ‘I love you?’ I didn’t know, but I followed where my heart led. “I love you, Blake.”